“Midlife Crisis: A Debate”
Introduction
Midlife denotes a developmental stage in which a person transforms from being a young adult into a fully grown individual and it denotes the central living period of an individual. Like many other stages such as adolescence and old age, midlife has its own growth challenges and most notable among these is midlife crisis which is more prominent among the male members of society (McBrewster, Vandome & Miller, 2010). In this paper I will take a chance to explore the unique challenge of middle age-midlife crisis. In this exploration the causes, effects and manifestation of this condition shall be addressed (McBrewster et al. 2010).
In order to make the assessment effective I selected one scholarly article from EBSCOHOST titled “Midlife crisis: A debate”. The work was authored by Alexandra, M. F. and Johannes, O. R. on 2009 and it extensively explores the psychological aspects of middle age. It defines midlife and all its accompanying aspects as well as effects and their causes and differences amongst genders. The purpose of selecting this article is that it generalizes the middle life aspects that most people have to undergo as they transform into fully grown people and thus offers a good general resource that is important in determining the midlife and its effects (Alexandra & Johannes, 2009). The statistical information in the article confirms why most middle age people have very many social problems compared to their older or younger family members or friends.
According to the reviewed article midlife hits at around 32-34 years and slightly differs among men and women. This period is often characterized by the term; “midlife crisis” because it is a common occurrence that takes place at this time (Alexandra & Johannes, 2009). In this period people face a time limitation as they approach their old age and it common for men to look back and evaluate their achievements whereas others make hurried plans to try and reach their goals because they feel that they are short of time. At the same time others work to fill up any gaps they feel that they may have failed to fill (Conway, 1997).
This period is characterized by rapid changes in character and personality both of which contribute to the sometimes observed extreme changes. These changes may include the change of dyadic relations, role models, reference groups, principles and a lot more. It is expected that such tumultuous changes should occur when we are young as we try to find our way in life, but apparently this has to come up at a later date because of the fact that as one gets into adulthood and settles down, there comes a time when re-evaluation of progress against childhood or teenage dreams becomes necessary (Eileen & Elke, 2008).
This re-evaluation many at times yields negative results which are not in line with most people’s expectations and that is why most people are likely to find themselves engaging in very dangerous or rather negative habits such as alcoholism, career disillusionment and changes, diminished sexuality, suicide, depression, neuroticism and divorce; most of these actually lead to death anxiety (Mendelson, Weaver & Weaver, 2008).
The empirically observed results from surveys conducted on people in this age shows that this is indeed a very challenging period of life within which most middle aged people need to take caution. Additionally, this shows that this is the period that most people need counseling and psychiatric services because of the natural results that follow this age of development, and like adolescence it is a determinant of old age and the kind of life that will be led in it (Mendelson et al. 2008). Thus implying that the kind of old age one lives is determined by the middle life that he lives.
In conclusion midlife is a period that demarcates the general middle age of life within which most people make re-evaluations about their past life. In this period people mostly end up taking up negative and harmful habits that could affect their lives, mostly due to the negative results that accompany most re-evaluations and as such counseling and psychiatry becomes essential in helping people shape their future old age and avoid falling into dereliction. The chosen article was actually interesting because it explored contentious issues on definitions that pertain to old age, problems that accompany midlife as well as their causes. It was generally a good and basic coverage that explains the midlife in a general basis.
References
Alexandra, M. F. and Johannes, O. R. (2009) Midlife crisis: A debate, Journal of Gerontology volume 55, issue number 5, pp.583-591 < http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f21007e8-181b-4855-8ed9-dec870facd19%40sessionmgr4&vid=21&hid=1>
Conway, J. (1997),. Men in Midlife Crisis: David C Cook Publishers
Eileen, T. and Elke, H. (2008) Subjective Well-being among young people in transition to adulthood: Social indicators research volume 87, issue 1, pp. 83-109, 27p
McBrewster, J. Vandome, F. A. and Miller, P. F. (2010) Midlife Crisis. VDM Publishing House Limited
Mendelson, A. Weaver, R. G. and Weaver, R. G. (2008),.America’s midlife crisis: the future of a troubled superpower. Intercultural Press Publishers
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